What’s in a name?

“…If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants.” (Sir Isaac Newton)

I’ve had the pleasure (and sometimes pain) of reading a lot of books related to systems thinking and improvement: From Deming, through Ohno, Goldratt, Womack et al, Seddon and Rother, with Kohn and Johnson on the way. I’ve ventured sideways into Forrester and Beer. I’ve even read Taylor and Gilbreth. I’ve watched a fair few YouTubes of old greats (such as Ackoff) and new thinkers (such as Sinek). I’ve got an Amazon wish list longer than I expect to achieve (or can reasonably justify!).

I know that looks like name dropping (in fact it deliberately is)…my reason in doing so is to:

show that ‘I’m not making this stuff up’…it comes from somewhere!; and

state my view that ‘there isn’t one answer or one person who has said all there is to say’

…and, since I will keep reading (in spite of its effect on my bank balance), I expect to find many more giants standing on the shoulders of giants standing on the shoulders of giants…

Finally, a squire refers to “a medieval knight’s helper or assistant” who one day might become a knight himself. I don’t expect to become a giant…but I will certainly do my best to help them out in their work.

My posts come from ‘brain farts’ that occur after reading and pondering these giants…and using their thinking within my work.